srds

On Dec. 22nd I noticed 2 small areas about where your beltline and booty meet.I cleaned the areas and put on triple antibiotic cream and went went to finish last minute shopping.The areas keep getting more and more inflamed,wewere at Walmart at that time so I asked Terry our pharm man what he thought,he said it looked like boils.He said the cream I was using should do the trick,so off shopping we went.When we got home that night and I was taking my shower my wife noticed another spot starting below my left shoulder ,we put the cream on them and went to bed.During the night I started sweating and did'nt fill very good and only got a few winks in.In the mourning my boils where huge shoulder area-ping pong ball size-the belt area-small lemons-that was it ,off to the emergency room.When we saw the doctor he said they were to large to lance ,and in the hospital I went.Dec.24th the doctors came in and said we would have to drain them in surgery,great chrismas in the hospital,you got to do it thu.Christmas 7:45 am the gas mask goes on and I go to la la land.The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery feeling like I just got out of train wreck.Then off to my room were everyone was waiting to see me.Then the words I hope none of you every have to hear.Robert you were bitten by a Brown Recluce Spider,wow you could have heard a pin drop in my room.Then the good news,they are 99% sure they got all the cores out,the bad news they take them out in plugs.My shoulder now has a hole about the size of a half dollar and deep.needless to say the ones on my backside are much larger.Well I'm out of commission for a while,but the good news they are so far healing nicely.I don't know how, are when I was bitten and thats the scarry part when you have kids ,we bombed the house and the church helped my wife do a clean and destroy .If you don't know what they look like PLEASE go to the web and look.My DD showed me were she looked and all she type in was Brown Recluse Bites.Thanks and please excuse any mystakes I might have made .Too all MERRY CHRISMAS and a even better NEW YEAR.

srds

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Turn Key

Glad to hear you got through it and hope the recovery continues smoothly.

Happy Camping!

__________________

Shannon

Robert,

You poor thing! My brother was bitten by a brown recluse when he was a child, although I think it was caught sooner so he didn't have to be admitted or undergo surgery (yikes!) You have my heartfelt wishes on a speedy and uneventful recovery... and on Christmas Eve/Day... ugh! I spent one Thanksgiving in an ER, and it's never a pleasant thing (well, I guess it would be if it was for the birth of a kiddo, but that's about it!)

Here's a link for everyone to inform themselves about these nasty critters, including a photo showing the characteristic violin pattern on their back (hence their nickname, the "fiddleback spider" --
Brown recluse spider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Your Host @ WildTexas.com
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campermom

Holy smokes, that sounds horrible. I thought the one I got last year on my ankle was bad. You had lemons and golf balls! If you google images of the bites, that is some gross looking stuff. Glad you sought medical attention and got yourself fixed up.

A friend of mine had a nasty sting ray incident which caused tissue damage to a large portion of his lower right leg. He got a tattoo of a stingray, with some strategically placed coral on the spot to camouflage the tissue damage. Are you the tattoo kind of guy?

Take care of yourself and keep spraying the house. Kids and pets don't know what BR spiders look like.

__________________
Charcoal is a spice, dirt is a condiment, and there is no 3 second rule.

JohnK

Wow, were you ever unlucky! Brown recluse bites actually are fairly uncommon in Texas. I've seen 4 or 5 in my practice during the past 10 years. I've never even heard of anyone with more than one bite at a time, and even one bite can make a person quite ill.

Sorry to hear you had to spend your Christmas that way! Hospitals are never much fun and are anything but restful places to be.

Hope you have a speedy recovery, though, brown recluse bites can take a long time to heal, even with careful wound care. If you aren't already doing so, you might want to consider seeing a wound care specialist.

JohnK

Shannon

Range and distribution map of recluse spiders in North America:
Google Image Result for http://department.monm.edu/biology/recluse-project/graphics/colorloxmap.gif

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Your Host @ WildTexas.com
http://www.twitter.com/ageekgal

srds

I might have to get a tatoo if they heal up alright but right now I don't have any.We go back to doctor this week and so far so good. the meds are pretty ruff on my stomach but hanging in there. While doing the mad clean night the ladies found 6 BR'S in our garage.We did'nt find any in the campers or the house.They even bombed my trusty old Explorer. So hopefully I ran into them in the garage by our side door.The hospital I was in has had 4 other BR bites.They said they they sometimes see 10 bites a year.They sure do alot of damage for their size.Thanks for the replies and JohnK i will asked about a specialist.The worst part is trying to firgure a way to sit, I got the little air dounut but I think I need to get 1 of our Garner float tubes.Again thanks and take care.

srds
Have Fun

BigBendHiker

Thanks for sharing this story and I wish you a speedy and good recovery.

BBH

BigBendHiker

I forgot to ask. You mentioned that they found 6 brown recluse spiders in your garage. Where were they? Under something like a workbench, or in the corners of the garage? Just knowing where they like to live will be of help to me.

BBH

JohnK

They prefer to live in piles of stuff (wood/debris) and other places that are generally left undisturbed; hence, their name, recluse. In homes, they like to hang out in boxes and areas of closets and garages where things are often tossed and forgotten.

Although brown recluses are often found in Texas, I would again like to state that actual bites are rare. As the Wikipedia article that Shannon posted states, as many as 80% of skin lesions diagnosed as brown recluse bites actually are not bites at all. Probably most of them are infections by Staphylococcus aureus (so-called Staph infections).

The article at the following link, written by an entomologist, has some great photos and identification info, as well as suggestions to reduce the odds of sustaining brown recluse bite injuries:

Identifying and Misidentifying the Brown Recluse Spider

JohnK

srds

Hey BigBend Hiker,
JohnK was right about them hiding, they where found above a door in my wifes old material and doll repair boxes.My brother went thru all the boxes and they found 2 more dead BR's.The material and boxes have been there since we built the garage about 6 years now.They now have glue traps in the garage and we hope we find no more of them.My temputure has finially gone down from 102. to 100. Doctors said that was a great sign,he also said that I pick a strange diet because I drop 11 pounds since the 23rd of Dec.These anti-biotics are tuff on the tummy.He has set up nurse's to change dressings for us,and that has helped dw to relax some.So far ,so good and again thanks for the good wishes,it seems to be working.And JohnK he has me setup to see a wound specialist ,but he thinks we shoud be ok.Campermom I already have a tatoo drawn up of a BR holding a Texas flag (my dd's ideal).


srds
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MissionCamper

Kinda sounds like you were biten as you slept.

BTW, what did you use to "bomb" the house?

srds

They used Pest Controls Spider bombs and BR glue traps,We haven't seen anymore so far.Just got back from wound center at Brazosport and they went in and did a little more scrapping,The doc said they were healing good and gave me some antibiotics.So far so good,I'm feeling so much better now and haven't ran a temp for the last few days.Friends behind us clear out their garage and bombed with regular house bombs and found a small copperhead in the space under hotwater heater,you never know.Thanks again for your support and hope everyone is having a great new year.

srds
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jeffnsa

i'm just glad your doing better srds, i knew someone who had a spider lay eggs inside their leg. they usually lay their eggs in carrion but the girl was passed out and i guess the spider thought she was dead. anyway the babies never hatched since it was living flesh but the spot got pretty infected.i will always remember her as the lady who got knocked up by a spider.

honeask

SRDS,
Glad to hear you are doing better! I will pay much closer attention everywhere but especially in the barn and pasture. If I had come across the copperhead, well let's just say, everyone would have already gotten my last post. I think I would drop in my tracks. Hate those darn things.

Sandy